Within the known prior art, there have been numerous attempts to develop a suitable system for delivering supplements to livestock in a controlled manner. Unfortunately until now, such a system has not heretofore been provided, as within all of the known prior art there are inherent disadvantages and drawbacks that the present invention recognizes, addresses, and resolves in a new and novel manner.
One example of related prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,533, issued on May 17th 1977, entitled “PROTECTED FEEDER AND/OR INSECTICIDE APPLICATIOR FOR LIVESTOCK”, in the name of Fred W. Mann. Wherein, the invention as taught comprises a feeder receptacle situated on the ground upon up-raised legs and the general function of the device is to include a receptacle and an insecticide with dispensing means in combination. Whereby when the animal desires access to the supplement, they must first activate the dispensing means. Thus the animal will be sprayed with the insecticide before they are allowed to eat the supplement.
Another example of related prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,040, issued on Dec. 1st 1981, entitled “PROTECTED FEEDER FOR LIVESTOCK”, in the name of Fred Mann. This device is somewhat similar to the first cited reference being that it still teaches a feeder receptacle supported upon leg members that are situated upon the ground surface. However, the use of insecticide is not inherent and the overall function in this case is to encourage the animal to lift a lid section, respectively, before they are allowed access to the contents within the receptacle. Thus, the specific purpose of the invention is to provide a protected covering for the noted contents so as to eliminate exposure to outside elements such as weather and contamination.
Other types of livestock feeders are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,279 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,124, each of which are designed for use with liquid supplements only. Although both of the cited patents are somewhat functional for their intended use they are very limited and not suitable for use with any other types of non-liquid supplements, as is the present invention.
It is therefore contended by the applicants that there is a great need for improvement regarding livestock feeders in general. It is to be understood the most common disadvantage with the supplement systems currently available is the fact that the animal has access to any exposed edges thereof. For example, if the supplement is in the form of a block, such as either a typical salt, mineral or molasses block, it is formed having squared edges respectively. This is most unfortunate as this allows the animal to easily bite off a large chunk thereof, thus defeating the entire purpose of providing a controlled regulated dispersal means.
Also, most typical containers used for feeding supplements are inconvenient to use and until now there has not been a universal support bracket that allows the container to be supported off of the ground surface in a secure, stable manner, such as taught by the present invention. Furthermore a very important advantage of the present invention is that it is very safe to use unlike the associated prior art. For example, typical containers available today include a plastic type rim thereon, this is very dangerous as the animal can easily chew on the rim and even choke due to ingesting pieces of the plastic from the container. These problems are inherent drawbacks associated with most of the related prior art and the present invention, recognizes, addresses, and resolves these problems in a new and improved manner that heretofore has not been incorporated.